Beneath a Starless Sky
by HeidiLancaster
Summary: So many thought witches were dead, gone, extinct from the world long before any could stop it. But something in her blood was different than all the rest. Quiet and obedient, Nova was a perfect weapon for the Hunters. A monster to use against monsters. But when her childhood ties to Zero Kiryu force her into a corner, obedience no longer remains an option. [OCxZero]
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

The air was still, not a ripple cast out across the pond, and the stars shimmered against the blackened night sky. The dirt beneath her feet was soft and damp as it seeped between her toes, her heels sinking into the mud as she stared up at the sky.

"You see it?"

Her father laid a hand on her shoulder, his fringe falling into his eyes as he looked down at her with a smile.

"You see the Big Dipper and the little one?"

He raised his finger to the sky, tracing the lines between the stars to aid her where she could not see. She scrunched up her nose and squinted at the stars, straining to see the spoon in the sky. The wind picked up and a cold breeze swept past, the chill cutting through her thin, woolen sweater.

"I can see the handle but…" She shook her head. "It's no use, Papa."

Her father knelt down beside her and wrapped an arm around her waist. He seemed more tired than usual; there were dark circles beneath his blue eyes, his blonde hair was greased back with sweat and a dark spot of blood stuck his shirt to his side. Worry ate at her gut but she'd grown used to that feeling, the anxiety that followed her into her dreams.

_No one is unbeatable_, it whispered in her ear at night. T_hey won't always be here to save you_.

Too used to the sound of their taunts, she rolled over in bed and drifted off to sleep.

Hands shaking, her father pointed toward the stars. "Here, Nova. See how the cluster follows around like this?"

She squinted again. "I think…I see it!"

A tired smile broke out across his face. Something troubled him, something he couldn't tell her, and she knew better than to pry into his business but the wounds on his body were a terrible burden on her conscience.

Was Mama okay? she wanted to ask. Will we have to move again? Did something happen to the Kiryus? Are we safe, Papa? Will we be alright?

But the words escaped her and she remained silent.

"I would've studied the stars in another life," said her father. He gazed up at the sky with a twinkle of wonder in his eye, though his voice wavered on the verge of tears. "But fate brought me to your mother, to you. I hoped the both of us would have a new beginning with you, my girl. That's why we named you, Nova. For you were the new beginning we'd dreamt of."

As his weary smile faded, her father held her tight to his side as they stood there together. Though her anxiety had not softened, it was easy to feel calm within her father's grasp. He smelled of pine needles and grass, as if he'd spent the day running through the wood around their house. Mama would kill him if he got more pine needles in the kitchen, green spikes scattered across the floorboards for her to step on in the dead of night.

"Is everything alright, Papa?"

Her words rattled the stars. The world plunged into a darker mood.

"I don't know, Nova," her father replied. "I hope we might be. Come now, we should get back to the house before Mama gets worried."

She supposed she should've opened her eyes then, been less naïve then, made an effort to help them then. But she was a child in a world that devoured and what else could she do but scream as her father was cut down like rabid dog?

His body hit the floor before her mother could even raise a finger to stop it. A white-knuckled hand wrapped around her daughter's wrist, her mother pulled her close. Blood poured down her face from a deep cut on her forehead and her black hair clung to her bloodied cheeks.

"Don't let them ruin you, Nova," she whispered. "Don't let them make you a monster."

With a mother's tenderness, she kissed her cheek and turned to face her death.

By the end of the night, a silver collar was slapped around Nova's neck. No longer a child to be protected, she was thrown into a cage like the rabid dogs that might tear her apart.

* * *

She'd always been afraid of needles. When her mother had taken her to get her first round of flu shots, Nova had screamed and cried at the very mention of sharp steel being pressed against her skin. The hair on the back of her neck stood tall, her cries echoed off the sterile, white walls of the doctor's office and her mother held her still as she squirmed against the doctor who gave the shot.

When it was all over, flustered and a little embarrassed, Nova wiped her eyes and leaned against her mother's arm.

"Was that so bad?" she asked, running her fingers through her daughter's hair.

Nova had been too proud to answer then, a childish stubbornness still running through her veins, but now, she knew. The tiny needles that the doctor had slipped into the crook of her forearm had been nothing at all. The thick, steel needles that Dr Kiri shoved into her spine were the true nightmare she'd been missing.

Instead of a mother to hold her hand, she had handlers holding down every muscle as she shrieked against the pain. Instead of a soothing pat on the back, she got black eyes and broken bones for crying out in agony. And instead of a father to tuck her in after a long, painful day, she was thrown into her cage like a fresh deer carcass thrown into a stockroom.

Today was no different. Her cage had always been cold, more a freezer than a real room, and the off-white tiles that lined the ten-by-ten room absorbed the frigid temperature better than anything else. But as her body shivered with a fever, the tiles were the best place to cool down. The holes in her back began to numb the longer she lay on the floor, the sickening scent of blood and iron coating the air in a thick haze. She couldn't smell anything else – just her own blood smeared across the white tiles and caking her spine, her hands and her hair.

With nothing else to do push through the pain, Nova wondered and remembered and dreamt of the life she'd had before the nightmare began.

In a moment far away, the room was a faded purple. The wallpaper was peeling along the skirting boards, a fact her mother had tried desperately to hide, and Nova had been squeezed into a white dress with sleeves that itched at her wrists.

"We'll never be ready," her mother cried from the kitchen. "God, why did they ever choose us?"

"I don't know," her father replied. "Why does anyone choose small children for early life betrothals? It's insane."

"But this is the Kiryus. They're loyal Hunters. They're _good_ Hunters. We've never been either, how could they choose our family for this? When did the Association even arrange marriages?"

"Didn't you say they did genetic testing on you last week? Maybe that has something to do with it."

"Like what, Bram?"

"Um…good immune system?"

"You're insufferable."

Nova giggled from behind the kitchen door. Her parents had been so lively then, so full of laughter and life and joy. They weren't the best at their jobs. They came home with a patchwork of bruises in yellow, green and purple, broken bones set in casts, deep cuts sown together with string. But they loved their home and they loved her. What more could a daughter want from parents?

There was a knock at the front door. A terrible anger overcame Nova, scrunching up her nose in disgust at whoever had chosen to interrupt such a happy moment. There hadn't been too many of those that month, with her father's continued injuries leaving him bed-ridden most days and her mother's terrifying circles of cleaning the house over and over and over again until she collapsed with exhaustion. It had been nice to hear her mother laugh again, nice to see them have a little fun.

"Oh God, they're here," said her mother. "I'm gonna clean the kitchen again."

"Put the damn sponge away, Miki," said her father. The kitchen door swung wide open, almost smacking Nova square in the nose, and a bright yellow sponge flew over the dining room table.

Nova couldn't help but laugh again.

Yanked back into her cage, pain ricocheted up her spine. Kotaru, one of her handlers, nudged her shoulder with the tip of his steel cap boots. The pain roared within her but all she could do was groan. A scowl rippled across Kotaru's face and he failed to hide his disgust.

"Wonder how long this lab rat will last."

Kotaru had a tendency to talk to himself in her cage at night. Nova listened intently, though it was unclear whether he knew she listened at all, and offered replies in long bouts of piercing silence. Perhaps he has no one else to talk to, she thought as she fought the fever dreams that threatened to swallow her whole. Or maybe he just wants to taunt me.

"Doc says there's something special about you," he went on. "Something in your blood, in your genes. He wants to unlock it. Don't think he has the key though. Probably why you're all bloody like this…you're just his practice for lock-picking."

Nova groaned, the ache in her spine seeping into her bones.

"You know, you make it hard to feel bad for you though. Fighting so hard against us when you get the injections. It just frustrates us. We're short-tempered people, us Hunters. We get angry quicker than most. But I suppose I do feel sorry for you…as sorry as I can be for a lab rat."

The fever dream won the battle and it dragged Nova into sleep.

* * *

"Again."

There was blood on the training room floor again. Red, sticky and drooling from her mouth – it pooled in the wood grains and congealed under the harsh florescent lights. Nova brought a hand to her face, gingerly pinching the bridge of her nose. A shock-wave of pain lanced through her brain but there was good news to be had: her nose was still intact.

Yagari tapped the floorboards with his fighting stick. His looming figure cast a shadow over Nova as she struggled to her knees. His one blue eye glared down at her, as cold as the winter snow and as hard and immovable as the silver chain wrapped around her neck.

He tapped the stick once more. "Again."

Wiping the blood from her mouth, Nova shook her head. "I won't-"

"Again!"

Yagari swung his fighting stick hard at her head. Nova jolted back to avoid the blow and, off-balance, fell onto her back. Though she hadn't had any injections in the last week, there was always some wound that was yet to fully heal. Today, it seemed the base of her spine was still tender and pain erupted through her hips, snaking its way down into her thighs.

She let out a short cry and heaved for breath, the blow and the ensuing pain knocking the wind out of her gut.

"I can't!" she choked.

Yagari exhaled a deep sigh, dropping the fighting stick to the ground. Reaching into the pocket of his jeans, he pulled a handkerchief free and offered it her. "You've got to be better than this. You stop fighting out there, you'll die in an instant."

"Doesn't sound too bad," Nova replied, taking the handkerchief. "Better than being in here. Stuck in a cage."

Yagari scoffed. "I don't disagree…but you owe it to your parents to keep going. They never would've wanted you to give up, would they?"

The image of her father's body hitting the kitchen floorboards flashed before her eyes. Her mother's perfume, smelling of rosewater and honey, wafted past her nose. _Who knows what they would've wanted_, she thought. _They're not here to tell me that anymore_.

The handkerchief was soaked with a deep, burgundy red as she offered it back to him. She could smell nothing but iron now, bitter and sickening as it settled in the back of her throat.

"Best take me back to my cage," she said. "Don't want to give the pet too much of a taste for the outside world."

Shoving the bloodied cloth into his pocket, Yagari knelt down and wrapped an arm around her waist. As he hoisted her to her feet, Nova couldn't help but think of that last night with her father, his arm holding her tight to his side as he admired the stars in the last few hours of his life.

"You're not an animal, Nova," said Yagari. "You'll get through this. One way or another."

Head lolling to the side, Nova rolled her eyes. "As if I have another choice."

* * *

Fire, even in the beginning, had always been easy to conjure. Surely stoked by the silent rage that roared like an inferno inside her, Nova could bring flames to her palm at the slightest instruction. Learning to control the flames, however, was an entirely other ordeal. Though the heat didn't burn her, it scorched much of the furniture. The fighting sticks were the first to crumble to ash in some accidental explosion, then the guard's chairs outside her cage and the numerous stacks of paperwork in the nurse's office. Even Dr Kiri's expensive, pinewood desk went up in flames eventually, though it was hard for Nova to say that was an accident.

After fire, ice and soil came quickly under her command. The small houseplant given to her by Yagari began to grow well beyond its limits, Nova's careful touch and a hint of magic encouraging it to overtake most of her cage before it was cut down. The wounds from her injections became easier to live with once she finally learnt to conjure ice at the small of her back, numbing the dull aches and pains that once plagued her.

Thoughts were the hardest things to control. Nova never really knew when she had invaded someone else's head, not until their thoughts betrayed them and she was pulled inside their minds by the sheer force of her inexperience. It was even harder to figure out how to leave someone's head after she'd entered, for everyone's brains seemed to be a unique labyrinth of memory and emotion. Dr Kiri was the first mind she invaded, his intense focus on jamming a needle with width of a hose into her spine lowering his mental defences.

His thoughts ran in a tight circle, a silent mantra repeating itself over and over again inside his head.

_Not too far in or she'll be paralysed. Not too far to the right or I might puncture her liver. Not too far left or I might sever her spinal cord and she'll die_.

Needless to say, Nova had screamed the loudest she'd ever screamed that day during injections. She lost a tooth for it, as Kotaru struck her hard in the jaw. This new ability, the invasion of people's minds, was a constant shock to her system and she fought hard to avoid ever having to use it. But Dr Kiri loved the development and found every possible way to exploit it.

"I wonder if the mutation will allow for control of a foreign subject," he wondered aloud. "That was be a great asset to the Association."

Everything was a great asset to the Association, Nova deduced. Fighting a losing battle against unbeatable creatures must have seemed like a terrible thing for the Hunters to put their faith in bloody, unethical science.

All the while, a second train of thoughts and emotions emerged from within her mind. Her voice – its voice – was coarse and it rasped in her ear in the dead of night, poking and prodding with every word.

**_so passive, child. you realise your have the power to rip their spines from their skin and toss them aside like rag dolls?_**

Nova did her best to ignore her, this new, malevolent voice inside her head.

**_you suffer, child, but you fail to think of revenge. did your mother not teach you to purge the earth of men who would use your body?_**

She tried with all her might to push it down.

**_weak. you're nothing but weak, child. is this how you repay the parents you lost?_**

But most of the time, Nova couldn't escape her. She stayed silent and endured the insults that came, ever obedient and ever the willing test subject.

* * *

His hair shimmered like a star against the blackest night. Nova had never seen hair like that before, except perhaps in the photos of her aging grandmother sat up on the mantelpiece. No, she thought as she fiddled with the sleeves of her dress, Oma's hair never shone like that. Maybe his hair is made out of stars.

"Nova!" Her mother snatched at her hands; her desperate whisper laced with anxiety. "Stop fiddling. This is important!"

Nova folded her hands in her lap. "Yes, Mama."

Her sleeves continued to itch at her wrists but she knew better than to disobey. Perpetually obedient, she recalled her father's funny foreign saying; "You catch more flies with honey than vinegar, my dear."

The Kiryus were a quiet family. The mother wore a persistent look of fierce defiance, her forehead creased with hard lines and ridges though those features failed to age her. Their father was tall, though not taller than Nova's father, and he towered over his children with an unwavering aura of authority. Their lavender eyes, dispersed from mother to sons, glinted under the light. The father's silver hair echoed into his sons, a trait that Nova would find hard to forget later on in life.

"We're delighted to meet you," said Nova's father, his anxiety betraying him as his foreign accent poked through. "The Association's always buzzing with your exploits. It's good to finally meet the faces behind it all."

The mother smiled, brushing her loose blonde hair behind her ear. "We're happy to meet you all too. It's not often the Association organises betrothals but they have their reasons for these things. Hopefully, over time, Zero and Nova will grow to like each other."

At the mention of her name, Nova jolted to attention. Her mother squeezed her wrist beneath the table. "H-Hi," she stuttered. "I'm Nova. P-pleased to meet…you?"

She struggled to form words, the language of her father intermingling with her native tongue as anxiety clawed at her gut. It was easy to forget where she was when she was nervous and language was always the first thing to falter. Nova held her breath and turned to her father, desperate for reassurance. He offered her a sly grin, his thumb raised in approval, and then diverted his gaze back to the Kiryus.

"I apologise," her father explained. "I've been teaching Nova my own language and sometimes she gets a little mixed up. I'm afraid my status as a foreigner betrays me."

The Kiryu father shook his head. "Not at all. Your accent's barely recognisable."

"Thank you," her father replied, though as his accent poked through again, his cheeks flushed and he diverted his eyes toward the floor.

The Kiryu mother laid a hand on her son's shoulder, his lavender eyes turned up toward her. "Zero, say hello to Nova."

A bolt of colour flashed before her eyes, swirling around the boy's head and then darting out of sight. The spectre was blue – no, purple. With a streak of yellow through the centre. Nova squinted hard to see it again, the ghost that circled Zero, but it had left too quickly and there was nothing left to see.

The boy, Zero, could barely conjure a smile. "Hi."

The ghost appeared behind him, a streak of purple that reached toward the ceiling, and disappeared in the very same instant. Nova gasped, startled by the apparition. What was that thing, hiding in plain sight? Her eyes darted from peeling wallpaper to Zero's silver hair. Was she being tricked? She shook her head, determined to shake the image of the ghost from her brain.

Nova felt her mother squeeze her wrist again, desperate for her daughter's cooperation. "Nova? Are you okay?"

She struggled to find the right answer. "Sorry, I-I just saw…sorry."

Zero narrowed his gaze at her. The ghost appeared again, towering over him like a monster out of a fairytale. Nova jumped to her feet out of fright, knocking her chair to the ground. The spirit was darker this time, more black than purple as it sunk into Zero's shoulders and out of sight again. It seemed connected to the boy, fused with his body and his hair that glimmered like the stars.

"Mama, I don't feel good," she said, hiding the shivering in her arms as she cradled her stomach. "I keep seeing…behind him, there's…I…"

Nova shut her eyes, terrified of seeing the spirit again. She'd never seen a ghost before, not even in their old house where so many people had come before them. Why now? Why him?

A hand pressed against her forehead. Nova jumped, frightened by the contact. As she opened her eyes, the boy's silver hair was suddenly so close and his piercing gaze had softened with concern. She reached out and caught a strand of his fringe between her fingers.

"Soft…but not stars," she whispered.

The boy didn't seem to notice. "You have a fever," he said, worry lacing his tone. "Do you need an ice pack?"

The world began to tilt to the right, her vision turning fuzzy at the edges. "I'm alright. I'm oh…okay…"

The purple wallpaper faded to black but for a small moment, Nova swore the purple ghost caught her before she hit the floor.

* * *

"You shouldn't give a caged animal hope, Kaito. You'll only make it harder to control."

Nova turned the enamel knob at the head of her guitar, tightening the steel strings across the oakwood body. She plucked at 'A' and a shrill note echoed off the tiles. Too tight, let it lose. The steel creaked against the strain and Nova worried, just for a moment, that the string might snap. Her guitar had been a gift, a forbidden one that was almost snatched from her arms the first time she held it. Replacement strings would not be easy to come by, impossible almost.

Nova gave 'A' another try. Better. Much better. She thrummed the collection of strings, ears pricked for any imperfections, but she couldn't hear anything over Kaito.

"It's not hope, Nova. It's reality," he insisted. "Why do you think Yagari's been training you?"

Nova shrugged. "I don't question the practicality of the things they put me through."

"Like a loyal pet?" Kaito sneered. "Is that all you want to be? A pet?"

Nova ran her finger over the strings once more. The gentle harmony vibrated through the guitar's wooden body and bounced off the ceramic tiles adorning the walls.

"I've never been a pet, Kaito. I've been a monster on display. What good would it do to marry a monster to a man? What good could come from releasing it into the world?"

"It's not marriage," he said. "Just betrothal."

Nova stretched her fingers across the fretboard, aligning her fingertips in the formation of a 'G' chord. She wanted to play a song her mother had shown her on piano when she was young but she didn't know the strum pattern and her head was littered with cracks and holes where memories should reside.

"Like before? With Zero?" Nova strummed out a tune anyway. "A whole lot of protection that betrothal did me. Who's to say this one will do anything at all?"

"It'll get you out of here, that's what it'll do."

Nova couldn't bring herself to look Kaito in the eye. It was hard enough to be lied to all these years, told day in, day out that she might be free of this place if she just does this one, salient thing. But then that thing would be complete and the finish line would be moved, just a little further out of reach. Nova had long since resided herself to the cage she'd been afforded and the small luxuries she'd been given; her guitar, her mother's opal pendant and her father's drawings of the constellations held together in leather bindings.

Her world was small but it was all she allowed. Dreaming of anything more only lead to disappointment.

Her fingers began to ache as she held the chords against the fretboard. The order was right but the melody was so very wrong, an off beat corrupting the tune of the song. Nova frowned, searching her memory for the right pattern.

"You could be more than a monster in a cage, Nova," Kaito went on. "More than this thing that they—"

"Please stop."

The room was enveloped with a resounding silence. Nova let her hand drop from the neck of her guitar, hitting her pillow with a dull thud. She let out a sigh as Kaito's words began to settle in her stomach. Tears welled at the corners of her green eyes.

_**you really believe him?**_ said the voice inside her. **_a man with nothing to lose but his dignity? really, child? how naïve of you_**.

Nova knew the voice was right. It was stupid to believe him, even more stupid to trust that he could keep his word, but the childish part of her soul wanted desperately to believe it. Maybe he'd protect her when they came to take her back. Maybe he'd tell them to stop beating her at night. Maybe, just maybe, he'd take her away from here for good.

Nova opened her eyes. "You'll keep your word?"

"Of course." He offered his hand, the best form of sincerity he could give.

Nova held her breath and took it.

"Okay."


	2. Closest Thing to Home

**Chapter 1: Closest Thing to Home**

The stars were hidden behind a thick veil of clouds that night. Drifting across the sky at a glacial pace, they muted the moonlight and plunged the forest's edge into an impenetrable darkness. The wind had an icy chill as it rushed past, rustling the pine needles and scattered leaves, and an eerie silence had fallen upon the nearby town. But to Nova, the freedom was a nice change of pace. Held in what could easily equate to a padded cell, her life had long since become a routine of obedience and pain. Sleep, injections, training and then back to sleep again. A comfortable circular life with little variation, although 'comfortable' wasn't a word Nova often used to describe what lay behind the cage.

"You'll never become the weapon we need without a little pain," Dr Kiri always said, needle primed in hand. "You will endure."

And endure she did.

There were still some memories of a life beyond the cage that lingered inside her head, quick snapshots of a world far from her reality: Her mother's hair, black as ink, as she pulled it back off her face at the kitchen table. Her father's soft accent that he struggled to conceal. A boy with silver hair, sneaking into the kitchen to steal a quick spoonful of his mother's vegetable soup. And the stars, aligned in twinkling constellations, beneath her father's watchful gaze.

Her chin raised to the sky, Nova couldn't help but think of her father. His office, buried beneath mounds of books, and his head resting against the desk as he dosed off into academic journal on astronomy. He was always dreaming of a life beyond the one that he lived, recounting tales of the home he'd left to marry her mother and teaching Nova of all the constellations so that she might one day share his passion. Raising her hand, she traced out Orion's Belt as it twinkled through the clouds. Her heart weighed heavy in her chest and her father's voice sank into the far reaches of her mind.

"Busy daydreaming, Janssen?"

A bitter haze invaded Nova's admiration of the stars. She supposed she should be used to the smell of cigarette smoke by now but no matter how many years she spent under his guidance, Yagari's nicotine habit continued to bother her.

"Just hearing ghosts," said Nova. Her chest contracted and unable to help herself, she choked on the contaminated air. "Do you have to smoke around me?"

Yagari shook his head and with his one good eye, shot her a glare. "Do this job long enough, you might even develop a taste for cigarettes."

"I doubt it."

The wind swept by again but this time, it carried with it the contorted cries of someone — _something_ — screaming out into the night. There was an energy to those screams that rattled Nova's bones, instilled a sharp sense of fear, but she was drawn to the sound like a vampire to blood. After all, Dr Kiri engineered her to enjoy the violence and programmed her blood to boil at the sight of carnage.

Nova hated it all. But when the energy took hold, there was simply nothing she could do to stop it.

"Caught the scent?" said Yagari.

Nova scrunched up her nose. "Shut up."

Her muscles seized as a kind of anger washed over her, a foreign, uncontrollable rage that seemed to radiate from within. It was a rage of its own, born from the voice that tormented Nova's dreams.

**_insolent_**.

Nova screwed her eyes shut.

**_tired old man, shouting at the wind. you could kill him_**.

The base of her spine began to ache and a shiver ran down her back. Another scream echoed on the wind.

**_but you'd never. boring_**.

"Let's go," said Yagari.

Bile rose into the back of her throat. She knew better than to disobey but that didn't mean she couldn't hate every moment she spent under the Hunters' influence.

**_you're a weapon, not a woman. why don't you show them that sometime?_**

Nova's legs carried her into a sprint. The air warbled with energy, the distorted screams far off in the distance shaking the very foundations of the world around her. T_oo far gone_, she thought. _They're Level E for sure now_. The wind whistled in her ear, pine needles scratching at her arms as she bolted through the trees, and the world quaked beneath the shrieks that billowed from deeper in the wood. Nova narrowed her gaze and held her breath.

An aura would give them away for sure, a flash of colour sent hurtling into the night's sky, but with vampires, there was never any guarantee. Their auras were often grey, pale and indistinguishable from their ashen skin. Sometimes, Nova wondered if they had auras at all but that thought always terrified her. Every creature had a soul, an essence, a part of themselves that drifted on the wind. To not have aura was to not have a soul.

Another scream ripped through the air. Closer now, almost right beside her. Nova slowed her legs to a jog, ears pricked for any sounds of movement. The trees loomed overhead and blotted out the sky, a sudden eerie silence enveloping the landscape. Nova could feel her heart thundering against her ribcage and her hands shook as she fought to contain her nerves. Hand on the hilt of her sword, her eyes darted from tree trunk to tree trunk. She couldn't lose herself now, for a loss of control could kill more than just one vampire.

**_wouldn't that be fun, little one? _**

Nova shook her head. "Not now, not now."

**_why not? there's always room for a little_**_** bloodshed**._

"Not today," she whispered. "Not ever."

**_boring. all you ever do is bore_**_** me**._

A twig snapped between the trees. Nova's heart stopped. She moved to draw her sword but not quickly enough, as a shadow charged from between the pines and collided with her hard. They slammed into the ground, the weight of another pushing her down into the dew-dampened leaves and discarded pine needles. Arms raised to protect herself, the Level E snarled and slashed at her forearms with his claws. His blood red eyes were the only light for a hundred yards, burning with an unimaginable hunger.

"Blood, blood, blood, blood, blood," he rambled. Every word sent out a shockwave of raw energy, pushing Nova further and further into the forest debris. The scent of pine needles suffocated her and her lungs heaved for air through the panic that rushed through her veins. She was trapped under its attacks, her sword

Blood began to drip from her wounds. The Level E took pause in its frenzy, a single moment in a thousand, but that was all she needed. Palm tilted toward its face, flames burst from her fingertips. The Level E flinched, its eyes alight with panic, and scrambled to get away but its fate was set. Nova pushed the flames out into the blackened night. A great plume of fire ignited as its body caught alight, its cries of agony carried out on the wind, but soon, all that was left was ash. A sigh of relief fell from Nova's lips.

"One down," she said, picking herself up off the ground. "Four to go."

Her forearms stinging, Nova pulled her sword from the debris and set out for the next kill. There were reportedly five stray vampires wandering about the forest, nestled along the darkened treeline at the edge of town as they surveyed the area for food. Earlier that week, the pack had massacred a group of school children who'd gotten too close and, the day after that, a young couple were found dead in their cottage near the forest's perimeter. Of both kills, there was barely anything left behind but bloodshed. They seemed merciless from the reports but Nova supposed there wasn't much choice in their actions. Madness didn't allow for reason and their desperate hunger overcame whatever morals they'd held before they turned. They were just beasts now, animals gone way out of control.

Despite their crimes, guilt clawed at her gut. Somewhere inside those things, there was a person. Long forgotten but still there, trapped and powerless to take control of their bodies. To snuff them out was her purpose but that didn't mean Nova had to like it.

A gunshot echoed from town. The sound was muffled by the trees but Nova heard it nonetheless. Her legs pushed her into motion and she bolted through the pines. The pain of her wounds was beginning to dull as the frigid wind numbed the ache. Her body worked at the cuts, sewing the muscle and skin back together so efficiently that all that was left was blood. Dr Kiri had made sure her body would function that way, healing wounds on the go and creating a surge in her adrenaline to numb the pain.

"Can't lose all that genetic testing and scientific success to a flesh wound," he'd said.

But far from his perfect instrument of war, Nova knew her body to make mistakes. The pine needles now buried beneath her skin proved as much.

* * *

The best place to view the stars was up on the Kiryus' roof. It was a treacherous climb: the only way to reach it was to clamber up onto the edge of roof through his parents' second story balcony and walk across the terracotta tiles that were precariously loose in far too many places. The lawn below was an ominous reminder of the danger they played with as they sat beneath the night's sky but in that youthful, curious way, they did it anyway.

His hand outstretched to hoist her off the balcony railing, Zero's lavender eyes sparkled with mischief. Nova's legs shook as she pressed her hands against the wall, fighting hard against her nerves as she looked down at the ground below her. The railing she stood on was thin, her feet poised with one foot in front of the other, and she was all too aware of how easily a gust of strong wind might send her tumbling to the ground. She wasn't the best at agility in Yagari's training sessions. One quick burst of air and a surge of panic would be enough to send her over the edge.

"Don't look down," said Zero, impatient as ever. "It makes things worse."

"I don't know how it could make things any worse than they are now," Nova replied. "I could die right now."

"You won't."

"How do you know?"

"Because I have better reflexes than you and I'll catch you before you fall."

Nova rolled her eyes, though it was hard to hide how her cheeks flushed with colour at his words. Taking a slow, deep breath, she reached up toward him, bent her knees and leaped. Weightlessness embraced her for a split second and out of fear, Nova closed her eyes so she wouldn't see herself fall. But her fingers found his palm and she gasped as he grabbed hold of her hand, heaving her up onto the tiles with little more than a grunt. Her hands and knees hit the not-so-solid ground and she sat still for a second, momentarily questioning how she made it up onto the roof.

"See?" said Zero. "Not so bad."

He moved toward the ledge again and a tile wobbled beneath his foot. A look of terror flashed across his face and he quickly ducked down to a crouch, hands placed flat against the roof as he struggled to regain his balance. Nova couldn't help but laugh, covering her mouth and falling onto her side as she giggled.

"It's not funny!" he cried. "I could've died."

Nova was struggling to breathe now and her laughter tied her stomach into knots. "Y-you...you didn't see your face, so of course you didn't think it was funny."

It was a while before Zero could see the humour in it, his mouth set into a harsh scowl for a good fifteen minutes as they observed the stars. He refused to talk to her, arms crossed over his chest and back tilted toward her, but the longer they sat in silence, the harder it seemed to keep the quiet around. Nova traced the stars with her eyes, finding the constellations where they appeared like word among the jumble of letters in a find-a-word.

"You see the really bright star over here?" Nova said, pointing to the sky. "If you trace it through these stars, it ends up looking kind of like a fish. It's not meant to be a fish though. It's meant to be a lyre, a sort of guitar. It's called Lyra, after Orpheus' lyre."

Zero squinted at the stars. "Orpheus?"

"It's Greek. He was a poet in ancient times and apparently, when he died, his lyre was thrown into a river. The god Zeus sent an eagle to pull it from the river and put it in the sky. That's just a myth though. A nice story to go with the shape it makes."

Zero shook his head. "Weird story. Doesn't even mention why one star is really bright compared to the others."

"Well, the story doesn't say but I can tell you," Nova replied. "That star's called Vega. It's about twice the size of the sun and it's the...fifth brightest star in the night, I think?"

Pulling her knees up to her chest, Nova sighed as the wind picked up and swept across the roof. Her parents had been away for almost a week now, their orders from the Association dragging them across the country to take out some dangerous beast. The Kiryus had welcomed her into their home, just as they had done ever since her betrothal, and they did their best to help her forget the danger her parents subjected themselves to. But she couldn't help how she missed home; the smell of her father's _oliebollen _wafting from the kitchen, her mother absent-mindedly playing _Clair de Lune_ on the piano in the living room and the way their tiny house seemed to hum with warmth through the cooling summer nights.

Nova knew all too well the risks they took every time they went away on a hunt. She knew how quickly their lives could be extinguished. Most of the time, she could ignore how her worry ate away at her but sitting beneath the stars that her father loved, it was even more difficult to push it all down. Zero seemed to sense her anxiety and he inched himself closer to her. Their arms brushed up against each other. Nova could feel the warmth that radiated off him and her heart thundered at the close proximity but her anxiety won out. She closed her eyes, desperate to avoid the stars, and pressed her forehead against her knees.

"They'll be okay, you know?" Zero said, breaking the silence. "They're good Hunters. Even if they get hurt, they'll just heal up again."

"Just to get sent back into danger all over again?" said Nova. Tears threatened to flow from her eyes and a hard lump had formed in her throat. "I don't know if I want them to do that. I don't even know if _I_ want to do that. To just go out again and again, knowing that any moment could be your last...I don't think I'm made for that. Mama and Papa never were, so why should I be?"

"Of course you were made for this," Zero insisted. "We're all made to survive. If we don't kill these things, then-"

"Then what? We'll die? Hunters die quicker than most humans anyway. It's not about survival anymore. I'm not even sure it ever has been."

Zero sighed, clearly trying to keep his frustration at bay. Nova couldn't blame him but her feelings were her own and no one could change what she had seen her parents go through, what they had sacrificed to be Hunters and serve the 'greater good'. They'd never wanted this life but it was theirs regardless. And soon, it would be Nova's too, no matter how hard she fought against it.

"We should get back inside," she said, wiping the tears from her eyes. "Your mother would kill us if she found us up here."

Zero nodded, climbed to his feet and moved to the roof's edge. He seemed eager to get away from her, as if her ideas were contagious and they might infect him at any second. She reached out to him, an apology weighing heavy on her tongue, but he dropped to the balcony before anything more could be said. Defeated, Nova sat beneath the stars for a little while longer and sobbed for the parents she missed too dearly.

* * *

The President's office was always cold. A draft seemed to a permanent resident within the room, creeping along the floorboards and weaving through the legs of occupants. It was almost seemed malevolent as it crawled up Nova's back, sending shivers through her chest and down to her thighs. With little more than jeans and a torn, bloodied t-shirt to protect her, Nova simply couldn't hide the shaking that overcame her limbs.

The chains on her silver cuffs jingled as she shook. Her mother's opal pendant, now on a delicate silver chain, hung from her neck. Behind her, Kotaru stood poised and ready to pull her into line if any trouble arose. _Safety measures_, Dr Kiri called them. Forever the monster, Nova knew her place. No uninitiated Hunter could be put at risk because of _her, _not Dr Kiri and most certainly not the President of the Hunters Association. Despite how her chains seemed to absorb the cold, there was a kind of comfort in them. With silver dulling her abilities, Nova was freed from the second voice inside her head. It was a rare moment of silence, with no unwelcome intrusions or wayward thoughts.

Unfortunately, that didn't stop Kaito from detesting them. Fidgeting beside her, his brown eyes were alight with rage and he glared over his shoulder at Kotaru. Something about seeing her in chains ignited a sense of brotherly protection in him, no doubt the same sense of duty that encouraged him to set up a betrothal. But it was no use. There was no arguing with the judgement of the good Doctor.

"The pack's been wiped out," said Yagari, cigarette smoke billowing from his lips. "We tracked them to the edge of the forest, weeded them out and killed them one by one. They won't be hurting anyone on that side of town anymore."

The President smiled. Knelt on a tatami mat, his kimono fanned out across the floorboards in sweeping red and yellow fabrics. If only he knew that those colours didn't complement his aura. Standing tall behind him, the President's spectral aura was a plume of earthy green, almost exactly like the pine needles that itched beneath the skin of her forearms.

"Excellent," he sighed. "I assume the girl was of use?"

"Invaluable," Kaito replied. Nova struggled to hide her smile.

The President cast his eyes over her shivering form. "It seems Dr Kiri's experiments have paid off then. It's always nice to see a risk pay off."

Dr Kiri stepped forward, his hands folded in front of his lab coat, and gave a short bow. "I'm grateful for your faith. We still have much to learn about her abilities and more to research but we're certainly making progress."

_Progress_. Nova could map his precious progress in the scars along her spine. She closed her eyes and buried her anger. _Obedient_, she thought. _All you have to be is obedient_.

"Who'd have known that witches could be resurrected from extinction?" said the President. "You've worked magic yourself, Kiri."

The Doctor smiled, though his silver aura seemed to roar with his annoyance, and shook his head. "Not magic, sir. Science."

Nova rolled her eyes. Beside her, Kaito's bright red aura leaped at Dr Kiri before vanishing from sight. His fidgeting worsened as he bounced from one foot to another, all too eager to escape.

"Is there anything else?" he asked, impatience lacing his tone. "We've got other assignments to attend to."

The floorboards creaked behind them as Kotaru stepped forward, keen to discipline someone_, anyone, _as Nova remained docile. Reaching into the void, she searched for some shred of energy to keep him away but the silver chains weighed heavy on her wrists. There was simply nothing there to work with. Nova balled her hands into fists and looked away. Dr Kiri held up a hand. Kotaru froze, let out a sigh and stepped back into place under the shadow of the door frame. Nova supposed she should be grateful for the Doctor's level head but her body refused to allow it.

"Of course," replied the President. "Don't let me hold you all up."

The tension eased with the President's agreement, curt bows were made and the group left the freezing office behind. Nova wondered if the President was human at all, for he never showed any signs of feeling the cold that had invaded his office. Perhaps his cold heart was warm beneath the expensive kimonos he wore or maybe it was simply his natural habitat. Kotaru grabbed her by the arm, his white knuckled grip tight around her forearm, and pulled her close. The smell of his cheap cologne was nauseating and his menacing grin was no help to the sickening feeling that bubbled in her stomach.

"Have fun on the outside?" he whispered in her ear.

Nova shrugged. "Same old, same old."

He scoffed. "Always cheap with the details. You don't enjoy turning those things to dust?"

"Sorry. I left my psychopathic tendencies at home."

"What a shame," he sighed, tugging her down the stairs into Dr Kiri's dungeon. "You might have had fun if you brought them along."

The tunnel down to the laboratories was narrow and dark, with cobblestone steps spiraling further and further into the ground. The complex wasn't big by any means - in fact, it was merely a subsection of the interrogation and holding cells that stretched for miles beneath the headquarters. Dr Kiri made use of what little space he had, re-purposing unused cells for his own particular use. The white tiled walls and sterile spaces were a heavy contrast to the screams and gore that the dungeon was primarily used for, although Nova certainly contributed to the pained wails that echoed from within. But her padded cell was the closest thing she had to home these days. Desperate to claw the pine needles from her skin, Nova gritted her teeth as her body ached for bed. The silver was beginning to burn against her wrists and her desperation for a shower grew just as rapidly as her blood dried on her skin.

But as Kotaru dragged her past her room, it was evident that Dr Kiri had other plans. Nova's heart sank as the lab's florescent lights and clean, grey concrete walls came into view. Her chest contracted and as she began to hyperventilate, it was all too difficult to hide her panic.

"Please," she said, tugging against her handler. "Please, I can't-"

The world spun as a hard blow struck Nova's cheek. As a gasp fell from her lips, she wondered when Kotaru's backhand had gotten that hard. It had been so long since she'd done anything to warrant a beating that she'd forgotten how very strong he was. Part of her had almost been convinced that his broad shoulders and sculpted biceps were a trick of the light. But far from a trick, they were made to kill. Kotaru slammed Nova into her seat. Grey spots danced in her vision and a dull ache had formed along her left cheek but she supposed it could have been worse - a broken cheekbone, double black eyes, another lost tooth.

Dr Kiri shut the lab door behind him as he entered. Under the lab's harsh lighting, he looked as if he'd aged overnight. His receding hairline emphasised the widow's peak in his grey-speckled hair, dark circles drooped beneath his green eyes and his lab coat seemed three-sizes too small as it hung below his knees. The pressure of the Association's expectations was clearly affecting him and even after all the things he'd put her through, Nova couldn't help but feel pity for the man. According to Kotaru's midnight ramblings, the Doctor had never been that great of a Hunter. Too clumsy and distracted to be anything more than a liability, Kiri tried desperately to prove his worth in other areas. Misguided science seemed to be his choice.

Pulling up a seat before her, Dr Kiri sighed. "It seems your regeneration works a little too well."

Nova struggled to find words. Intermingled with her mother's language were the words of her father, the deep vowels and soothing pattern of his speech. Sweat dripped down her back, her brow furrowed and slowly, she forced the words from her mouth.

"I…The forest," she said. "On the ground, there were pine needles and leaves and I…I can feel them under my skin. They were stuck in my wounds…"

Dr Kiri listened intently as a sudden bout of great patience overcame him. He nodded and reached for her hands but paused at the sight of silver wrapped around her wrists.

"Take these off, Kotaru. We won't need them here," said the Doctor as he leaned back in his chair.

It took Kotaru a moment to comprehend what was being asked of him. His face contorted, confusion pulling at his features, and he stuttered as he failed to articulate how very against the whole idea he was. Dumbfounded, he approached Nova slowly and unlocked her chains with shaking hands. Nova had never seen him so afraid of her. It felt good for a moment, to stare into the face of her handler and see just a twinge of hesitation as he let the chains hit the floor, but then the energy of the room flooded into her system.

It felt as if a speeding truck had slammed into her chest, knocking the air from her lungs. The world around her was absorbed into her skin: the screams of others in the dungeon, the fear that reverberated off the walls, the buzz of life and pain that moved through the stone and tiles. Her limbs went numb for a moment and she heaved for air, clawing at her throat as she coughed.

**_you feel that? the power that flows through your body?_**

Free of the weight of her silver chains, the voice inside her chest had returned. She seemed louder now, as if empowered by the sudden surge in energy, and her voice sent shivers down Nova's spine. It was almost as if she were whispering in her ear, a sneering devil on her shoulder.

**_you missed it, didn't you? the beautiful flow of the earth and all its beings? _**

Nova shook her head. She felt nauseous listening to her, the seduction of her voice turning Nova's stomach. She couldn't give in to it, not if she wanted to remain truly herself, but there were always times when it seemed more tempting to let her in than keep her afar.

Dr Kiri remained still in his seat, tired eyes cast over her shivering form, and knocked the chains to the side with his foot. He observed her as he always did; arms crossed over his chest, eyes vacant of emotion and lips set into a thin, straight line. "You're in pain?"

Nova could barely begin to explain how she felt. Between the pain and the breathlessness, there was a pleasant buzz that filled her aching head. It was the energy that bubbled in her veins, the essence of life that roiled inside her, and it felt better than any human emotion ever could. But she detested it all the same. That feeling wasn't really good. It was merely there to tempt her, a shimmering mirage orchestrated by the other being inside her head. If she clung to it, then _she_ would take hold. How could Dr Kiri possibly understand the fear that provoked? How could he, with his faded green eyes and analytical mind?

Nova leaned back in her chair. "No," she replied. "Just a little out of breath, that's all."

Dr Kiri gave a short nod and, as if dismissing the thought entirely, reached over to the gurney adorned with surgical equipment. "You need that debris to be taken out, yes?"

"Yeah," said Nova. Opening her palms, she offered up her arms to him.

The skin of her forearms was blotched and tinged with the green of the debris beneath. Some pine needles protruded out from her skin and others lay buried deep beneath the surface in the fallout of her wounds. It was a grotesque sight to behold but it was normal to them. It was normal for the body that Dr Kiri had crafted to malfunction, for the injections that enhanced her abilities to cause problems and for the science to horribly fail them. Blood dribbled down her arms as Kiri sliced into her skin and the sting of the needles ricocheted up her arms as they were pulled from her flesh.

Nova barely made a sound. Pain had been her constant companion for the last four years and so, she had come to accept its presence in her everyday life.

She endured. Just as she always had.

* * *

The two-way glass was thicker than Kaito had imagined. Nova slept with her back to the window, exposing the nasty spider web of scars that inched down her spine. It was a hard thing to look at, the harsh reality of her transition, but it was even harder to look away. _This is what you let happen,_ the scars seemed to tell him. _This is the kind of thing you allowed. This is what you endorsed. _

"Having doubts?" said Yagari as he entered, slamming the door behind him.

Kaito turned away from the window, shaking his head. "None at all."

"Good. We need her powers, especially when it comes to something like this." A flame flickered between his fingers as Yagari lit a cigarette, his face illuminated in the dark room. There were dark rings beneath his eye and his skin looked paler than usual. The new orders from the Association seemed to weigh heavy on his shoulders, although Kaito couldn't quite say the same.

Zero had been long gone ever since the incident with the Hio Pureblood. Kaito knew there was no saving him from his fate, only a long road to eventual madness and decay. There was no questioning it, no debate, no skirting around the fact. Zero was as good as gone and if need be, Kaito would happily put him out of his blood-crazed misery. It was the most brotherly love he could give. But for Nova, there was still hope and while it existed, he would fight as hard as he could to save her.

"When will you break the news?" asked Yagari, leaning against the glass. "I'll need to get moving soon. The President is already on my ass, thinking I'll have some clouded judgement about Zero's condition. I don't need her holding me up here, making it look worse."

"Let her rest for tonight," Kaito replied. "I'll talk to her tomorrow. Hopefully she won't lose it..."

"She's going to. She was as close to Zero as Ichiru. She's not gonna want to see him like that. Hell, I don't even think she knows he's alive."

Kaito shook his head again. "She'll want to help. And besides, she can see things no one else can. If anyone's going to be able to say for sure whether he's turned, it's her."

"Or she'll remember how much she loves him and lose it entirely."

Kaito let out a sigh. It was never going to be an easy task, letting Zero go. To him, it would always be a mercy kill. He'd killed his own brother when he turned, his own flesh and blood, and he'd do it again if necessary. But he wasn't everyone and he had to acknowledge that.

"Look, there's no guarantee what she'll do," he said. "But neither is there for you. This is Zero, your student and basically her brother. The only person who could know him better than you two is Ichiru. Who else is going to do this if not you? Who else could pull the trigger?"

Yagari said nothing in reply and the viewing room was enveloped with a resounding silence. There was little debate about the urgency of their task, with every second drawing closer to Zero's eventual transformation. They had no time to argue over who or what could be done. As Kaito stared through the window at the scars that decorated Nova's back, the urgency of the situation seemed almost carved into her skin. Any longer inside that cage, any more years under the gaze of Dr Kiri, and her body might just give out entirely.

Running a hand through his hair, Kaito moved toward the door. "She'll leave with you tomorrow. Take her to Cross Academy and wait for her judgment until you pull the trigger. She'll want to be completely right about this, so give her some time. Don't screw this up."

Yagari gave a quick nod, cigarette raised to his lips. The door slammed shut behind him and the night dragged on.

* * *

**A.N: Hi there everyone, it's my sleep-deprived, university-struggling self. I apologise for the lack of any Author's Note or signals at the end of the Prologue but I was already procrastinating rather hard by posting the chapter and could do nothing more to it without seriously compromising my grades. **

**Hi there, I'm Heidi. No, that is not my real name but let's assume it is for now, shall we? It's been a long time since I've touched this account, almost seven years now in fact, but with all the stress of university and adult life, I thought I'd revive it in order to maintain what little of my sanity still remains through all this work. I'm studying Creative Writing and Psychology, drowning in readings and coursework as I go. I'm also a freelance writer on the side, though given I live in Melbourne, Australia, it's a little hard to make money from that with a flooded market. I'm always open for a chat if you need advice if it's needed or if you're lonely and need to talk to someone - don't hesitate to send me a private message and I'll do my best to get back to you. **

**Nova is not only my own character but she's also essentially a beta-character for a manuscript I'm working on in my spare time. She's the main character of my still developing narrative and I wanted to see how she worked within the flow of a story, compared against other characters and pushed to the limits. The setting she's in is mostly bleak, just as that in Vampire Knight, and I hope to develop her lore a little more as I move along with the story. Give me all your critiques and thoughts on her, whatever comes to mind. In that regard, consider yourselves my trusty beta-readers. **

**But at the same time, don't let this idea pollute your heads. Enjoy the story, what I hope to do with the narrative and escape the worries of the outside world. That's what we're all here for; a little escape and happiness. I've been a Vampire Knight fan for years, so I hope to do justice to the story (even if it is a little melodramatic and disjointed in places.) **

**Thanks so much to _FarFromTheSun_ for reviewing and _AquaAmaryllis_ & _Ruler of elements_ for following. I appreciate the support so very much. **

**Until next time, **

**Heidi Lancaster **


	3. Old Ghosts

**Chapter 2: Old Ghosts**

There was a dent in the side of her guitar. Nearly invisible to the untrained eye, it jutted into the hollow underside of its wooden body and tainted the flow of sound that vibrated through the instrument. Nova was almost certain it hadn't been there before she left for the hunt, having carefully propped it up against the wall before being dragged from her room in a rush. It hadn't fallen and it hadn't been touched since she'd made it back to her room but there it was, polluting one of her few treasured objects.

"Fuck..." she whispered under her breath.

Running her fingertips over the blemish, Nova let out a sigh, closed her eyes and reached out into the energy that surrounded her. It was a pointless effort - she'd never been very good at mending anything that wasn't human skin or bone - but she couldn't help feeling hopeful. Her guitar was precious, however cheap and second-hand it might be, and it was one of the few connections she still had to her mother. Music had been her mother's life and if Nova lost the ability to make it, then all she had was the opal pendant that hung from a silver chain, more another source of Dr Kiri's control than a true reminder at all. The world stood still and she reached further into the void.

Far beneath the ground, almost everything seemed muffled and quiet. She waded through the swamp of thoughts, auras and humming life that flooded the dungeons. It was hard to sit purely within it, her head aching as she fought against the muck that hid the right kind of energy from her grasp. Not that she knew exactly which kind would help her but Nova supposed it was better to learn than to never try at all. The swamp seemed to be rising with every second, the tortured souls around her sending more and more energy surging through the world. Nova grit her teeth, pushing further in, and soon, she was submerged.

The energy nipped at her skin, tiny shocks and bites from her toes to her lips. It was getting impossible to distinguish from one thing to the next. Her hands shook, her head throbbed and it was getting impossibly hard to breathe. Almost as if she was _actually_ drowning.

**_you _are_ drowning_**, said the voice hidden her conscience. _**you're just to stupid to realise it.**_

Nova shook her head and opened her mouth to respond but she seemed to choke on nothing at all. Her lungs begged for air that had vanished from the room.

**_stupid, stupid, stupid. this world could swallow you whole if you let it. _**

The dark world she'd found herself in began to tilt, her vision turning black at the edges, and she fought to hold on to consciousness. _Wake up_, she wanted to scream. _Get out of your head. Wake up!_

**_you're so lucky. be glad you have a body to wander back to after all this. _**

A hand fell on Nova's shoulder. The world snapped back into place like a rubber band pulled too tight. Nova inhaled hard, her ears ringing as she shoved the guitar off her lap. It clattered to the floor and a grotesque sound echoed off the walls as it smacked into the tiles. She would have been more careful but her body reacted quicker than her brain, deprived of oxygen and desperate to escape the threat.

"Damn, if you hated the guitar that much, I would've told Yagari to pick something else."

Nova felt her body relax at the sound of Kaito's voice and his brown eyes betrayed a familiar, brotherly warmth. His hand fell from her shoulder as he knelt down, picking her guitar off the floor and placing it beside her. The world came into focus as she caught her breath. Feeling flooded back into her fingertips and the tightness in her chest eased.

Kaito took a seat beside her. The mattress dipped and Nova almost fell into him, her balance tipped toward his body as she quickly moved further along the bed. A blush coloured her cheeks, though she took care to look away from him, and she ran her fingers over the polished wood of her guitar. A new scratch adorned the curve of the body, no doubt a consequence of her carelessness. They sat there for a moment, rapt in the total silence, and Nova kept her eyes down as she traced this new injury to her instrument. She was struck by the distinct feeling that she was being watched, observed and judged like a bug in a jar. Under the gaze of another, she found it hard to act of her own volition and even those she trusted failed to pull down her guard. Survival was too important and any wrong move could mean punishment if she wasn't careful.

"You alright?" Kaito asked, breaking the awkward silence.

Nova nodded. "Yeah. Just tried to do a stupid thing, that's all."

"What do you mean stupid?"

**_almost drowning in a room where there's no water: is that just stupid or _really_ stupid? _**

"Don't worry too much about it," she replied, turning back to offer a smile. "What do you need?"

Kaito raised an eyebrow. "Why do you assume I need something?"

"You never come to see me earlier than noon but when you want something, you're always early. Only Association orders are strong enough to get you out of bed before twelve o'clock."

"You're an asshole," he grumbled. "I do _not_ always sleep in."

"You kinda do," Nova chuckled. "Now shut up and tell me what's wrong."

And with that, the joking mood vanished from the room. Kaito's eyes moved to the floor, his expression drooped into sincerity and Nova was gripped with the terrible feeling that she might not like what she was about to hear.

"It's Zero," he said. "We need you to do something."

"Zero?" Nova could feel her heart slow, almost stop at the mention of his name. It had been so many years, what felt like centuries, since she'd last heard of him. She almost felt guilty for not thinking of him more often, the boy she'd spent a large chunk of her childhood with, but there had been more pressing matters for her attention to be drawn to.

"He...he's in trouble," Kaito explained, visibly struggling to find the right words. "A long time ago, not long after your parents...there was an incident. With a Pureblood and the Kiryu family. The whole family was wiped out but Zero, he...barely survived. Not without consequence though. Not without..."

Nova got up from the bed. She couldn't sit still, this new information forcing her from her seat, and her heart raced as she began to process it all. It had been a long four years since she'd last seen him, before her parents' deaths and her new life within a cage. Some part of her was convinced he'd simply gone on without her, training and hunting as a part of the organisation that kept her under control. It wasn't exactly a betrayal – after all, according to most of the Association, Nova had died with her parents – and it was a comfort at times to imagine that someone dear to her had escaped the torrent of pain she'd been swept up in. But now, the Zero she'd known as a child and even her imagined version of his future had begun to crumble into dust.

There was only one fate that someone bitten by a Pureblood was granted. One terrible, awful fate. Nova could feel her stomach turn as the Level E she'd set alight flashed before her eyes. Its glowing, red eyes. The claws that dug into her skin. Its rasping voice crying "blood, blood, blood," into the night. She couldn't imagine Zero in that state. She couldn't bear to think of his purple aura, the vibrant yellow at its centre, fading into grey as he collapsed into madness.

"No, please, no," she whispered. Tears glistened on her cheeks. "God, no…"

The bed springs creaked as Kaito rose to his feet. His boots thudded against the tiles and with his fingers outstretched, he reached to place a hand on her shoulder. Nova couldn't hide how she flinched, her muscles jumping at the contact.

Kaito did his best to ignore it. "The Association is sending Yagari to his school to keep an eye on his condition, make sure he's not hurting anyone and…when the time comes—"

"Kill him?" Nova shook her head. "You can't expect me to do that. You can't."

"I don't have much choice, Nova," Kaito replied. "You're the only person who can tell for certain whether or not he's completely gone."

"I won't do it."

"Nova, you don't have choice."

"I do and I won't, Kaito. Find someone else. Some batshit-crazy Hunter who's loyal to the Association but not me."

"Nova, please—"

"Stop!"

Nova's voice echoed off the walls. Her tears stung her eyes and her throat ached with the desperation of her voice. It took everything she had to keep the energy in. Another death, another person to grieve, another set of memories tarnished by circumstance. Zero had been the lone survivor of her childhood, the single person who she had hoped and prayed had made it through their lonely years, but now the image of his face was twisted and distorted by glowing red eyes and blood that dripped from his lips.

Nova's legs began to feel like jelly and she swayed on her feet, reaching out to the wall for support. The tiles were cold against her palms but her face was hot and itchy as she sobbed against the wall. Kaito dared not say anything more.

The door to her cage creaked as it opened and Kotaru's voice was quiet but enraged. "You done here?" he said to Kaito. "She'll kill you if you're not careful. Make her more upset and she'll have to be restrained."

"From who!?" Kaito yelled back. "She's locked in this room all day, every day. If she hurts me, then so be it."

Nova covered her ears and wept, slipping further and further into herself as they argued. The voice within her stirred, awoken by her grief and pain.

**_you want them to go away?_** she said. **_make them. show them you're not a toy._**

Nova screwed her eyes shut and held in her anger as best she could. The energy inside her was desperate to be let out, swirling in her gut and dancing up her spine, but she refused to let it escape. "Shut up, shut up, shut up…"

"You're not the one that has to guard her every day," Kotaru went on. "I'm not getting torn in half or set on fire because you set her off."

"She's not a fucking animal, you—"

"Quiet!"

Ice burst from her fingertips. It traveled up the wall, across the floor and through the air as the entire room was coated in ice and snow. The atmosphere was snapped frozen, the tears on her cheeks clung to her skin as they became icicles and her very heart turned cold in her chest. She wasn't going to escape this. She couldn't run from the pain of this misfortune. She pushed off the wall and turned to Kaito.

Her tongue felt heavy and grief still forced her shoulders into a slump but Nova had made up her mind.

"If Zero's going to die," she said, "then let it be me who kills him."

As snow fell from the ceiling, Kaito nodded. There was no more discussion after that, not even from the weary Dr Kiri who despised his creation being taken from the safety of his lab. He sulked in the door frame of her cage, arms crossed over his chest as he watched Nova pack what little of her possessions remained into a duffel bag. Kaito stood beside her, an official order from the Association clutched in his right hand and her scratched and battered guitar held by the neck in his left. No one spoke but Nova preferred it that way.

She could barely hear anything through the thoughts that raged in her head: Zero, eyes glowing red and twitching with bloodlust. Her sword buried in his chest. His body crumbling to dust. The images flashed through her mind, over and over as she pulled the zipper shut across her bag.

**_no more running, little one,_** said the voice inside her head. **_you're__** o**n the hunt now. _**

* * *

His tattoo refused to stop itching. No matter how long he slept, no matter how many blood pills he swallowed, no matter what he _did_, it throbbed against the skin of his neck. Zero raked his nails against his skin. _You deserve this,_ he thought to himself. _You deserve every bit of pain you get. _

The taste of Yuki's blood was still fresh on his tongue. The relief that had flooded his body as her blood filled his mouth and the sickening _joy_ that its sweet taste gave him was seared into his memory. There was no mistaking that his hunger was getting worse by the day, that the beast inside him was eating him alive, but Zero couldn't help how he hated himself for the disease that infested him. He'd hurt Yuki - of all the people in this shitty school, he'd hurt _her_. And worse than that, he'd barely been able to control himself as he'd sunk his teeth into her neck and _enjoyed_ it. He was little better than the monsters he guarded every night, those things that masqueraded as people in fancy white uniforms.

The image of Kaname Kuran invaded his mind, arms around Yuki as she collapsed from blood-loss. _"Was Yuki's blood delicious?"_

Zero balled his hands into fists. The smug satisfaction of Kuran's face would have been enough to send him into a rage but his satisfaction was warranted. He _was_ a beast, too consumed by hunger to see clearly as he latched onto the nearest prey. Yuki's optimism couldn't change that fact, though he knew very well she believed it might. He forever wondered what she saw in him, maybe a small glimpse of the person he'd been before the incident, but it wasn't enough. None of it would be enough to change the inevitable.

_"It'll be okay..."_ Her voice invaded his head, soft and hopeful just as it always was. "_I'm not afraid. I'll be your ally..."_

Zero shook his head. "Stupid..."

The classroom door burst open as Yuki and Yori spilled inside, puffing and panting after their usual mad dash to make it to class on time. Yuki put her hands on her knees, doubled over and out of breath, before she defiantly called out, "Safe!"

Zero kept his head down. He still found it hard to look at her since the whole ordeal, even after her sheer insistence that everything would be alright. That morning in the Headmaster's office was painful enough, being zapped and pinned to the floor by the protective spell locked inside her bracelet, but the pity in her eyes when she looked at him was almost unbearable. He could feel the weight of her gaze as she approached her seat but he kept his eyes lowered to his desk as he waited for her to sit down.

The class fell silent as the teacher entered the room and Zero sighed, rubbed his eyes and looked up to the front of the class.

In truth, it wasn't too big of a surprise to see his old mentor standing behind the teacher's desk. He'd known the Hunter's Association had been keeping tabs on him and it was only a matter of time before they sent someone to keep close watch over his condition. However, it felt awfully personal of them to send Yagari of all people. His single blue eye flicked lazily from left to right across the class, inspecting the students that sat before him. His missing eye was neatly concealed by a patch, the same eye he'd lost protecting Zero and his brother, and he leaned back against the blackboard with the same suave, calmness that seemed to ooze from his pores.

The sight of his old teacher sent a shock through Zero's system, cold shivers racing down his spine, but it was the girl beside him that knocked the air from his lungs. He almost didn't recognise her at first - she was taller now, her mousy brown hair stretched down to her hips and there were heavy, dark circles beneath her green eyes. But it was still her, still Nova. Still the girl he'd spent so much of his childhood chasing and fighting with. The very same girl he'd been told had died after a hoard of Level Es swarmed her family home deep in the woods. Zero rubbed his eyes again. Was he seeing a ghost?

"Before I take any questions about me, I'll introduce the new student," Yagari called out into the classroom. "Nova Janssen, a shiny, new transfer just like me."

Zero held his breath. Lifting her gaze, Nova offered a small smile and bowed ever so slightly. She seemed nervous, as if she was trying desperately to make a good impression, and her voice was so quiet that even in a silent classroom, it was difficult to hear her.

"Hi," she said as she fiddled with the sleeves of her uniform. "It's nice to meet you...all..."

Her eyes swept over the classroom, darting quickly from person to person until she finally found who she'd been searching for. Zero exhaled a shaky breath as he stared into her eyes. They were still a deep green, like the moss that grew along the cobblestone steps to her house, and they were filled with fear.

Zero bolted from his seat and moved toward the door. He couldn't stand to be looked at that way, to sit in a classroom with ghosts from his past that he'd long since left behind. He needed air and silence but more importantly, he needed a wall to punch. The world was spinning as he charged down the pathway toward the dorms, his anger bubbling and roiling under his skin. How dare the Association bring Nova into this? How dare they pull his past back to haunt him? How dare they lie to him about her death?

Zero could feel his heart hammering against his ribcage. His rage could barely be contained and his tattoo throbbed as his hands shook.

"Zero, wait!"

Yuki's voice pierced through the cloud of anger that swirled around his head but Zero could barely stop himself from trying to escape. He refused to go back to that classroom, refused to sit among old ghosts.

"Zero, come on, please!"

He pushed his head down and kept walking, eyes firmly set on the path that stretched out before him. He couldn't go back there. He _wouldn't_ go back there.

The pair slowed as they approached the edge of the school grounds, a familiar face blocking the exit that led into town. Zero was almost determined to barge straight past the Headmaster, saying to hell with his rules and co-habitation and peaceful alliances, but the somber look on his face made him stop. The Headmaster was silent as he handed a note to him, his golden gaze burning into Zero's face as he shoved his hands back into the pockets of his coat.

"You don't need to be in class today. I have other things for you to do."

Zero let out a sigh of relief. _At least one person in this school isn't goddamn insane. _

* * *

The town was packed by midday when Zero and his companion had made it to the town square. People were everywhere, lugging shopping bags on their forearms and sighing against the soft afternoon breeze. The crowds moved like schools of fish, weaving in and out of shops, through stalls and around other people out and about. This, of course, made it infinitely more difficult for Nova to tail Zero and his little girlfriend but she thanked the skies that Zero towered over most people as she followed his silver hair.

**_still no_ _aura_,** her second voice whispered. **_things aren't looking good for pretty boy, my dear._**

Nova shook her head and sucked in a breath. She held out hope that his aura was simply hiding, closely guarded inside his body after years of grief and trauma. It wasn't a solid reason as to why but Nova clung to it with the hope that Zero was still in there somewhere. His friend's aura, all sunflower yellow and dash of pink, danced around the pair of them as she merrily skipped over to a stall. It seemed to be taunting her with its presence, constantly reminding her of the severe lack of colour that surrounded Zero's body. She tried not to let it bother her, slipping past a gaggle of schoolchildren and into a crowd of eager tourists, but her mind was far too active. The longer she stared at the back of Zero's head, the more likely the possibility of his deterioration became.

The voice went on.** better_ kill him now or later then? can't have him snacking on his little friend when he finally snaps._** Nova groaned, marched into a back alleyway and climbed up a fire escape to reach easier vantage point to track the pair across town. Her new uniform was awfully uncomfortable, even more so when climbing. Her skirt was far too short, barely kissing the upper end of her thighs, and her boots were stiff and rubbed against her heels. It was painfully obvious too that it made her stand out in the crowd, for not many schoolgirls were found wandering in town at midday. The roofs were her best bet and so, she scurried along the terracotta tiles and exposed balconies in hot pursuit.

Seeing Zero again after four long, painful years was a challenge that Nova was unsure if she could fully bear. The childhood friend she's come to love had no doubt shifted and changed over the years, his own grief and suffering morphing him into someone else entirely. As she watched him from afar, all the questions she wanted to ask flooded her mind. Would he still be the caring boy she's known? The brother who could barely leave the house if Ichiru was too sick to move and the friend that comforted Nova on the rooftop when her parents were far from home? Had he made it through all the years and still had a love for his mother's vegetable soup? Did he remember their nights beneath the stars, the constellations she'd taught him and the stories she'd told?

Flashes of gnashing teeth, sharp claws and glowing eyes stained the back of her eyelids. Nova fought back the bile that rose in her throat. The image of Zero transformed into a beast was sickening and the closer she got to him, the harder it was to breathe. But she did as she was ordered and shoved the terrifying images to the corners of her mind. She would be obedient. She would do the job she was tasked with. And she would not question it anymore.

Hand clasped over her mother's pendant, Nova narrowed her gaze and tried her best not to think about it all.

The pair slipped into a cafe after a few hours of errand running, a sour scowl on Zero's face as he pushed open the door. Nova sat perched on a nearby rooftop, crouched on the ledge as she watched the door in wait for their eventual exit. With little else to do, she pulled her new sword free from the harness along her thigh. The handle was cold steel, ornate along the hilt with a blade that collapsed into the handle to appear less threatening to students. The Academy's Headmaster was less than eager to give it to her, his hands shaking as he placed it in her palm, but Nova couldn't say she enjoyed it all that much either.

"_You are here on the orders of the Association,_" he'd said, "_but know, if you hurt any of my students, I'll be forced to take action._"

What exactly that meant, Nova was unsure. She found no joy in the iron blade, the Hunter's symbol carved into the hilt and the terrible burden its' purpose placed on her shoulders. She ran a finger along the sharpened edge, her first layer of skin easily slicing along the blade. _This will the sword you drive into his heart_, she thought. _This will be the sword that kills him._ Nova looked away and let her arm hang limp at her side, the hardened blade clanging against the roof.

**_empty yourself, little one, _**said her second voice. **_you will surpass this moment. _**

Nova chuckled. "I think that's the first nice thing you've ever said to me."

There was silence in her head. Nova looked back to the cafe entrance.

Half an hour passed with little occurrence, bar from the autumn leaves swept up into spirals as the wind raced through the narrow cobblestone streets. The once packed town square became eerily silent as the afternoon dragged on and the whistling of the breeze grew ever louder in the absence of living beings. Nova shivered against the cold, her jacket too thin and cheap to combat the brazing wind. She sighed, then took a deep breath and a sudden feeling of overwhelming dread overtook her senses.

"Level E," she breathed. "Somewhere in the town."

Her body hummed with energy and her ears pricked for the sound of movement. The cafe door opened with the shrill ring of a bell and Nova's breath hitched as Zero exited. _He could sense it too, _she thought as she stood upright. Somewhere in the heart of the town, a monster lurked. Nova set off across the rooftops, letting her senses pull her toward the Level E hiding among the buildings. Zero seemed to do the same, quickly disappearing into the winding, rabbit hole of streets. Running across the roofs, she did her best to stay silent and sure-footed, keeping her ears open and her fingers ready for an attack on any side. The violence from the monster echoed through walls, its energy loud and angry, and she was pulled toward it like a fish on a reel. Whether Dr Kiri had made her to be pulled to violence or the monsters, Nova couldn't be sure.

Taking an abrupt turn out from the town centre, Nova leaped from the roof to a balcony just below. She could see it now, the Level E who seemed to be scurrying from window to window of the abandoned second-storey buildings, but an anxiety rumbled in the pit of her gut as she tried to keep track of Zero's whereabouts. The signs were more subtle for him than the Level E; a soft tremor of a heartbeat sounded to the west, a sharp intake shortly after and cursing as he tripped over the uneven path. Nova let those sounds sink into the foreground and she set off after the beast.

Brought down to its level, she could see his fawn trench coat flutter in the wind as he hauled himself onto a neighboring balcony and moved swiftly out of sight. Nova pursued him, her fingers aching as she caught the ledge of the railing and pulled herself over the edge. Her heart thundered inside her chest as she gave chase and her head buzzed with adrenaline and power as fire crackled along her palm. The Level E bolted through the barren rooms, almost too fast for the human eye to see, and cackled as Nova slammed into walls, tripped on loose floorboards and choked on stale air in their chase. She was never very good at chases, always much better when the element of surprise went in her favour. The Level E seemed to delight in her inability.

"_Not so agile, Hunter pet?_" it screeched, its voice a high-pitched whine.

Nova growled and sent fire hurtling down the hallway with the flick of a wrist but its reflexes were far superior to her frustration and it side-stepped into room to avoid the flames. _Not fast enough_, she thought as she forced herself into a sprint. Her thighs ached and her chest contracted but she couldn't stop now. That thing was a danger to the rest of the town and she couldn't just let it live to spite all others.

**_don't lie to yourself, dear. you just love the violence_**.

Nova ignored her. There was just no time.

Rounding a corner, she paused in the doorway. The room was cast in shadow with white sheets draped over discarded furniture and the air coated with a thick layer of dust. The windows on the opposite side of the room were open and a cool breeze crept into the open space, dispersing the dust and causing the sheets to sway with the draft. Narrowing her eyes, Nova held her breath and waited for any signs of movement. The world stood still. Then a cry rang out from the streets below.

"Don't just stand there, Yuki!"

Nova took a breath, drew her sword and bolted for the window. Vaulting over the ledge, she was airborne for a moment before her feet hit the cobblestones hard. The force of the landing ricocheted up her legs, though she'd tried to brace her knees for the fall, but as the Level E charged toward her, she moved her momentum forward and pushed her sword out in front. A spark of fear crossed the creature's face before she buried the blade deep into the monster's chest. The light in its eyes flickered, its hands twitched and as Nova wrenched the sword up and out through its head, it burst into a cloud of dust.

All that was left was a tattered trench coat collapsed onto the ground. **_job done easy. too easy. how boring_**.

Brushing the dust from her school skirt, Nova tried to contain her nerves. Behind her, Zero and his friend stared in silence as she flicked the hilt of her sword and collapsed the blade into the handle. Her knees ached from the chase and the fall, her skin was red in patches where bruises would surely form, and her head ached as dust filled her throat. _Please be there_, she thought as she went to turn around._ Please, God, just let it show itself_.

She groaned against the pain in her legs, let out a shaky breath and turned toward them. Her eyes locked with Zero's lavender irises. He towered over her now, so unlike their childhood spent at nearly identical heights, and his face had aged into maturity with a hardened jaw and a permanent frown. Up close, his hair still looked as if it were made of stars and Nova could almost feel her heart soften at the sight of it. But there was no aura and instead, she felt her heart crack into two.

"You should both get back to the school," she said, emotion stolen from her voice. "Too much danger out here."

With that, she looked away. The likelihood of Zero's sanity remaining for much longer rapidly decayed by the hour and there was nothing Nova could do but watch. She pushed her legs into motion and moved to escape the scene as quickly as possible. She couldn't look at him like that, couldn't stare into his face with the constant reminder of his downfall playing through her head. His friend watched in awe, her mouth hung open like a clown in one of those cheap, carnival games, and it seemed like her jaw might hit the floor before she left but Zero would not let her go without explanation. He snatched her arm as she swept past him, holding her back but saying nothing at all.

Nova kept her eyes to the grey cobblestones underfoot. **_snatching a Hunter? surely he's mad. why not kill him just for that? _**

She shook her head, almost as if she might dislodge the second voice from her head. **_one of these days, you'll have to act without the word of your handlers. or do you want to be a pet for the rest of your life? be a slave to men and beasts alike? _**

Nova screwed her eyes shut and yanked her arm from his grip. Zero did not try to grab her again and so, she ran. She ran despite the bruises that ached along her knees, the splinters in her palms and the sound of her heart being torn apart inside her ribcage. She couldn't kill him yet, for she still wasn't sure he was fully gone, but Nova kept wondering if she'd be able to kill him at all. She was made for the hunt, for killing and consuming. Why couldn't she just do exactly that?

Tears pricked her eyes but Nova could not let them fall.

* * *

**A.N: Hi there lovelies, it's Heidi again. Sorry this took forever and a day to get out but university assignments needed finishing and life in general decided to get in the way. Regardless, it's done now and I can finally go to bed at a semi-decent hour. Who needs a solid sleeping pattern these days, anyway?**

**Thanks so much to FarFromTheSun for reviewing (you're an absolute gem) and Yuudie, Mizuna Kurenagi, Elextra and DoctorBoo24 for following. I appreciate the support with all my soul. Nova is developing as a character and I apologise for how rough around the edges she may be. I'm ironing out the kinks with every edit. **

**Hope you're all safe and well. **

**Until next time, **

**Heidi Lancaster **


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